09:41 <banana> The moon is very high in the sky, and it shines through the glamoured branches of the great yew. The ball is over, and irregular groups of plastic chairs are now covering the turf on top of Harry's Hill. 09:41 <banana> All the guests are taking places. Some sit, some stand; courtiers of the Autumn Hill are still behind the buffet, beginning the cleanup. Either way, they'll all end up facing the high table. 09:42 <banana> At the table, the seelie lords have returned to their places, working through a final few greeters and petitioners - including Agostina Badawi. From left to right they gaze benevolently(?) upon her; Saul Lensburg, Rose's Wasp, Samuel Plape and Hatch Starling. 09:44 <banana> Out under the tree's shadow the rest of the Nameless House (or Night Watch) are coming together. They're joined by friends and partners, including some of their changeling hosts; Mari has brought Bob back to his colleagues, and she in turn has been joined by Sumi and thence Riaan, a chain of increasingly distant acquaintance. 09:45 <banana> Sergio Bonasera is in the group, giving Willie a shoulder massage, as well as Samantha Blackfin whose inquisitiveness has finally come apart under the passage of time and alcohol. She's just watching, now. 09:46 <Quaker> Badawi bows deeply, clutching one hand to her chest and spreading the other as she leans over. The silk tassels attached to her mask tinkle and sway as she returns. “Thank you for inviting us, your Seasonal Majesties. Myself and my comrades, making up the Nameless House, are pleased to make your acquaintance and honored by the invitation from one of your subjects. Your hospitality is much appreciated. I have a small gift for the soon to be King 09:46 <Quaker> of Winter, actually. And a small request, which I hope will be no imposition at all.” 09:47 <VoxPVoxD> Ahhh, what a blessing. Willie luxuriates beneath his touch folded up in a plastic chair. She could fall asleep like this, even in the cold. Instead she looks up at him adoringly. 09:48 <tom> They can't read Bob's face under the full wolf-mask, which is fine, because the man is still giddily overawed at what he's seeing for the first time. 09:48 <banana> The maskless kings and queen make appreciative noises. Most of them are still a little unsure what role your organisation is going to have in the Underground, but they're hopeful it will be positive. Hatch Starling says: "A present always enlivens the evening. Make your request, then." 09:49 <Quaker> “Begging your patience, lord, I can only present my small gift first. I wouldn’t insult the stature of your courts.” Badawi reaches into her satchel… 09:49 <hrolf> Rolf still stands on guard at the periphery of everyone else, keeping a careful watch, scowling and arms crossed. Someone ort to take this security fing seriously innit. 09:50 <banana> Mari (to Bob, but everyone gathered can hear it, and she's not trying to hide anything): "When everyone's ready, there will be a two-part ceremony. The tributes - I guess your colleague is getting that started right - and then the passing of the crown. That part is dangerous." 09:50 <banana> Riaan: "It'll be fine this time. Bad before, yes, but that was a bit of a breakthrough." 09:51 <Quaker> …and produces a cylinder of polished bronze and crystal. 09:51 <Quaker> It’s a kaleidoscope, made of brightly polished glass. On one end is an eyepiece, and on the other are four large multi-colored discs and a series of smaller triangle, each made of spirals and whorls of colored glass. On the middle section of the cylinder is a thin plate of polished black metal, etched with gold designs of snowflakes and spiderwebs. There’s lettering on the plate, also in gold. 09:52 <Quaker> I, who have felt the horror of mirrors /Not only in front of the impenetrable crystal /Where there ends and begins, uninhabitable/ An impossible space of reflections / But of gazing even on water that mimics /The other blue in its depth of sky /That at times gleams back the illusory flight/ Of the inverted bird, or that ripples/ nd in front of the silent surface/ Of subtle ebony whose polish shows/ Like a repeating dream the white/ Of something marbl 09:52 <VoxPVoxD> Distractedly: ”Ohhh. Does something try to sneak in at the changing of the guard?” 09:52 <Quaker> or something rose 09:52 <Quaker> Today at the tip of so many and perplexing/ Wandering ears under the varying moon/ I ask myself what whim of fate/ Made me so fearful of a glancing mirror/ Mirrors in metal, and the masked/ Mirror of mahogany that in its mist/ Of a red twilight hazes/ The face that is gazed on as it gazes / see them as infinite, elemental/ Executors of an ancient pact/ To multiply the world like the act/ Of begetting. Sleepless. Bringing doom. / They prolong this 09:52 <Quaker> hollow, unstable world/ In their dizzying spider’s-web/ Sometimes in the afternoon they are blurred/ By the breath of a man who is not dead. 09:52 <tom> Dreamily: "...Dangerous?" He turns to look at Riaan as the man (?) talks. 09:53 <Quaker> Badawi hands it to the Regent (?) of Winter. “I hope this curiosity, made by friends, gives you some small pleasure.” 09:54 <banana> His title is Count, but it's not like they use it much. Count Starling: "Intricate." 09:54 <banana> King Plape: "Exquisite." 09:54 <banana> Count Starling: "This is a gesture well beyond the necessary. I'll remember your friends' craftwork and taste." 09:55 <Quaker> “My request is, could I sing for your Majesties? The Nameless House has many skills, but I think that tonight that is the one that you might like most.” 09:55 <tom> His hand briefly tenses in Mari's. 09:56 <banana> Bob sees Riaan Coetzee for who he really is: pretty much the same, but bigger. His shadow is larger than his body, and cast onto the empty space around it. His Mien is angular and menacing, but his face is smiling and relaxed. 09:56 <Crion> From his seat, with a water in his hand finally, Aster wonders if she has song magic. Karaoke magic. 09:57 <tom> What a unit. 09:57 <banana> Samuel Plape: "It does my heart no good to decline your offer, Nameless one. If we had more time and a less delicate balance of powers, that would be a treat." 09:57 <banana> Lensburg: "Perhaps a few minutes..?" 09:57 <banana> Rose's Wasp: "Not tonight. Sorry, but thanks." 09:58 <banana> Mari elucidates. "They do try that, but not usually right away. The problem is that making the transfer correctly is, um, what's a simile.. it's like weightlifting." 09:58 <tom> "...They're missin' out. Agostina's a great singer," he mutters. 09:58 <banana> Sumi: "Is it?" 09:59 <Quaker> Badawi lowers her gaze, but turns herself towards the Regent of Spring. “Of course. It is, as His Majesty said, just a minute or two, but thank you for your answer.” 09:59 <banana> Mari: "To reach your maximum weight you have to do a jerk or whatever. And that means you can drop the.. bar, which would cause a serious injury." 10:00 <banana> Starling: "Some time sooner or later." He's running his wrinkled fingers over the kaleidoscope. Looks quite pleased for a man who's just participated in denying a simple request. 10:02 <banana> Sergio, in Willie's ear: "See the pair up at the end of the table? The former master and apprentice. At one point, they worshipped the same goddess." 10:02 <banana> Others are on the periphery; Rolf overhears snatches of conversation. "Tonight, someone called me a handmaiden. To the architects of all human misery." 10:02 <banana> He recognises the other voice as Auto. "That's funny, boss." 10:02 <banana> Janissary, you assume: "Everyone here worships four kings. I merely recognise six more." 10:02 <banana> Auto: "Might as well make it seven, eh?" 10:02 <banana> Janissary: "That's not funny." 10:02 <VoxPVoxD> Willie sits up a bit straighter, and puts her hands to her shoulders to keep Sergio’s hands in place. Does he mean Lettie and the big man? 10:03 <hrolf> Rolf nods passingly at Janissary. Seemed like a nice bloke. "Alright then, mate?" 10:05 <banana> Sergio points out the group he's talking about. Lettie's up there, with the other vampire she called Urash; forming a kind of queue behind them is is one of the wizards, one of the animal-heads and then a much smaller figure. Bertie, being looked after by the twin muses. 10:05 <Quaker> Badawi: “Some time sooner, I hope. My voice and House are always at your disposal. Thank you again for your hospitality, Your Majesties, and good luck with your ritual. I was told that you represent the fair and reasonable portion of this City’s leadership, and you certainly live up to that reputation.” 10:06 <banana> Plape: "If we're to have a reputation at all, sure, that's not bad." 10:07 <Crion> This 'Plape' is the outgoing lord and high whatnot, yes? Hopefully we will not have to be dealing with him via Bob's entanglement. 10:07 <Crion> Something of an ass. 10:07 <tom> Bob is kneading Mari's fingers with his thumb while he holds her hand. "...So, what's the worst that could happen if it goes bad?" He refuses to visualize Hatch Starling trying to do deadlifts. 10:08 <Quaker> She casually puts a hand to her face, as if recalling a funny memory. “And thank you for your patience with what must be my embarrassing lack of experience with manners proper to this protocol. The sorceror named Janissary assaulted my mind with a spell earlier, when I tried to make conversation with him on what seemed like an innocuous topic. If I have blundered and my hello to him caused you offense, I apologize.” 10:08 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”Do you suppose it began as a falling-out, or as a loss of faith?” 10:10 <banana> Mari: "Worst case? The Tatterdam fails, Hatch has to put the pieces back together again, and in the interregnum they have a way into the world. It was a failed crown transfer five years ago that opened- that created the conditions under which I was able to open the Wrong Door." 10:11 <VoxPVoxD> Ah, the poor dear. Willie manages not to directly give her a pitying look. She just feels a bit sad instead. 10:11 <banana> She's clearly a little tense. Sumi: "But last year they got it stitched up in time, and this year.. King Sam will make it." 10:11 <banana> "Five years back was his first time, you see." 10:13 <banana> Rose's Wasp: "That's hardly the experience we want guests to have." She frowns; first time you've seen the old woman look a little angry. "Your timing is poor. Leave us a number. We'll have to-" 10:13 <banana> Lensburg: "Mediate." 10:14 <banana> The wizards in question didn't acknowlege Rolf initially, but now the one who's into football has left the queue and is kind of slumping back to the main party floor. He does wave at apparent-Paolo on the way. 10:16 <hrolf> Rolf waves back. Nice lads. maybe they'll have a few jobs for the Watch sometime. 10:16 <Quaker> Hahahaha!! Eat shit!!! “That’s gracious of you, Majesties.” She hands Rose’s Wasp a Nameless House card - the phone number goes to one of the lines Richard has set up. “I have taken up too much of your time. Thank you again, and good luck.” She bows and withdraws, back to where Willie and the rest are standing. 10:17 <banana> Sergio: "I've no idea, but maybe we'll get some clues in a few minutes." To the changelings: "Is the queue for what you called, tributes?" 10:17 <tom> Bob stands in silence as he processes the words, then holds her a little closer. 10:18 <banana> Sumi: "Yep. We also accept Mastercard." 10:18 <Quaker> Badawi is in a good mood as she sees the two changelings with the cell. “‘Ello ‘ello ‘ello. Enjoying the evening, all?” 10:18 <banana> Three changelings, actually - there's a guy she doesn't know, who seems to be patiently following Sumiya about. 10:19 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”Agostina! Did Count Starling appreciate the gift?” 10:19 <tom> "Oh hey Agostina, this is Riaan Coetzee." He nods. 10:20 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”And he’s with Sumiya, who outshines us all.” 10:21 <banana> The firepits have all been put out. People are going quiet, but not dead silent - conversation in your little group won't upset anyone. 10:22 <banana> Sumi: "I'm happy to share that crown with Wilhelmine." She considers Samantha, but apparently decides not to include her beauty and make it a trio. 10:22 <Quaker> Which one is Sumiya, again? By process of elimination, she’s going to guess it’s not the one Bob is clutching. If she lets her, Badawi will kiss her hand with her porcelain mask’s cold lips and bow. “We are all honored by your invitation.” 10:23 <Quaker> “I understand that the trust of fairies is a hard to treasure to find, but priceless once you have it.” 10:23 <Quaker> hard treasure to find* 10:24 <banana> The two vampires, not looking at each other, are leading a procession around the front of the high table as Plape looks at his watch and everyone's attention focuses on the tree, the tableau and the transfer. 10:24 <VoxPVoxD> The trust of faeries is worth more than spun gold, by strict valuation. 10:25 <banana> Sumi's a tall and slightly plump indian-looking woman in a fancy ballgown - extra fancy under the glamour - and, through Bob's eyes, she's a chariot figurehead made of silk over wood, wrapped in strands of gold and spice. 10:26 <banana> "Trust we can talk about once we've been to summer camp together." 10:26 <banana> Mari: "The trust of human beings is pretty much the same." 10:26 <tom> He watches the two ambient-temperature members of the procession. ...Man, it's gotta be pretty awkward to be locked into the once-a-season hand-off ritual with your weird estranged blood dad. 10:26 <VoxPVoxD> That’s just Christmas. 10:26 <Quaker> Badawi: “I think Boss Winter liked my present, though they seemed in a hurry. Couldn’t get them to let me sing for them.” 10:27 <tom> "Yeah, uh, they're on the clock. Midnight's comin' up." 10:27 <tom> "The rules are very specific I guess." 10:27 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”Their loss. Bertie up there could tell them so. Maybe at Candlemas.” 10:27 <banana> The Winter boss has placed the kaleidoscope, carefully folded, on a napkin beside his empty glass and cleared a space on the table in front of him. He's doing something odd up there actually. 10:28 <tom> He still has a hard time looking at Sumi, knowing what he knows. She is very regal, however. 10:28 <banana> All the regents have had their plates taken away, but Starling has several small empty ones, which he's carefully shuffling around into a pattern. 10:28 <Quaker> “Do we have to do anything for this next part?” 10:28 <Crion> Aster rubs his temple. 10:28 <banana> Mari: "We don't." 10:28 <VoxPVoxD> Willie seems to have no problem with it. But then, she is in love with a vampire, and her best friend is convinced he’s history’s greatest monster-of-the-week. 10:29 <VoxPVoxD> “Just... not pull focus.” 10:29 <banana> Riaan: "Enjoy the cool, look for your car keys, contemplate friends and enemies." 10:29 <VoxPVoxD> You know who’d have loved this? Sarah. 10:29 <VoxPVoxD> ...that’s not a bad idea, actually. Maybe send her an email tomorrow. 10:30 <banana> Samuel Plape clears his throat. Either some changeling spell or the glamour cast by the tree amplifies his voice, making it clearly audible across the hilltop. "Thank you all, kith and kin, for another fine night. Another full season survived." 10:31 <banana> "To our first-time guests - don't worry, this isn't a speech. We have one last duty to perform, all of us, and I need your help to do it. All it takes is the right vibes." 10:31 <Quaker> As quietly and unobtrusively as she can, Badawi will creep over to the little monkey orchestra. “Good evening, friends. Fine perfomance tonight,” she whispers to the performers. 10:31 <hrolf> Rolf straightens from his watchful slump against a tree as the voice carries. Finally an end to this shitty night? 10:32 <banana> "Think of safety, and the door that bars us from the wolf. Think of friendship, and the deceit that's only possible in relationships. Think of the things we have to lose, and how very fragile the shell of this world is." 10:32 <banana> Autumn King: "Are you afraid of what's coming next? You should be." 10:32 <banana> Sumi pulls a face. Sergio pulls a face. 10:32 <VoxPVoxD> Willie takes Sergio’s hands to her lips and kisses them. 10:33 <banana> Plape: "I yield to our friends from the Wise and Solemn Court." 10:33 <banana> Samantha, to Aster: "They're everyone's friends. They keep telling you so." 10:34 <Crion> Aster: "I'm fairly certain they're not even lying. But this is the sort of ceremony you have before the fun, not after." 10:34 <banana> A big dead man with a heavy coat and a scarred face steps up to the table. He addresses the King, voice carrying like Plape's did. 10:34 <banana> Urash: "A drop of blood for the Tatterdam, to seal a sacrifice carefully made." 10:35 <banana> Although he's talking to Plape, it's Starling who slides out a dish; the vampire pierces the skin on his own arm with one fang gleaming briefly under the moonlight, allowing it to drip. It's a savage-looking movement. 10:35 <tom> ...Every moment that Bob's senses aren't being assaulted by imaginary insects is a little victory. 10:35 <banana> Hatch changes the plates as Urash moves aside and Letitia replaces him. 10:36 <VoxPVoxD> She looks so small up there. 10:36 <banana> Lettie: "Another drop for the Tatterdam, to clot a wound carelessly made." 10:36 <banana> She uses a small knife rather than her own teeth, and pricks her wrist delicately; the result is the same. 10:36 <hrolf> Rolf mutters under his breath at the sight. "...if we were wise and solemn we'd stay the fahck away from em..." 10:37 <banana> Mari: "Yes." 10:37 <banana> Red Riding Hood squints at the man back from his watch. "...Rolf Hughes, right?" 10:37 <Crion> Now that it's underway, however, Aster observes the ceremony intently. 10:38 <hrolf> Rolf: "'s right mate, and who's askin?" 10:38 <tom> Bob has been, over the course of the last few minutes or so, strategically positioning himself for the following statement: "This is Mari, Mr. Hughes. Mr. Hughes, Mari." 10:38 <banana> Plape, declamatory: "Thanks to your Circle and to all of Gresford that was." 10:39 <banana> The vampires move down the table, silently; they split up at the end, with Lettie circling around to stand behind it and Urash returning to the crowd down one side of the hilltop. 10:39 <tom> "...You know, like we talked about..." 10:39 <tom> He sounds a little wary. 10:40 <hrolf> Rolf: "Saying only good fings i 'hope?" To Mari: "Enjoyin the night, miss?" 10:40 <VoxPVoxD> Rolf isn’t even there. He’s fading away... 10:40 <banana> Janissary approaches the high table, clanking a little, then turns around slowly. He holds a piece of paper bearing ten wax seals, showing it off to all the guests. 10:40 <banana> "A writ of authority for the Tatterdam, in recognition of services rendered." 10:41 <banana> The Seer of the Throne turns around once more and hands the document to Hatch Starling, who takes it silently. Samuel Plape thanks the mage. "Our mutual benefit remains." 10:41 <banana> Badawi may be pleased to note all four of them looking pretty blank-faced at the guy, though. 10:42 <tom> At Rolf: "Only the best." He lets her speak for herself. He's moved to put his hand on her shoulder and is bringing her into an enveloping hug from behind. "Hughes is our other Tactical. Tough as nails." 10:42 <Quaker> Badawi is writing what is being said, in a small notebook. 10:43 <banana> Mari: "Yeah, it's nice to meet you and a nice night. Bob really came through on this stuff, so.. you've got good taste in co-workers. Co-soldiers?" 10:43 <banana> Sumi and Riaan watch this with curiosity, having no idea who Rolf is. 10:43 <VoxPVoxD> Mari’s got an imaginary friend. 10:43 <VoxPVoxD> Probably looks like John Bull with cirrhosis. 10:43 <VoxPVoxD> Ah fuck he’s still there. 10:44 <tom> Bob, quietly: "Co-belligerents." 10:44 <banana> Three people in golden suits with masks depicting the face of a jackal, a scarab and a falcon approach the table. The scarab-headed woman is limping and the falcon-headed man keeps glancing out into the staff area where he left Carnelia. 10:44 <hrolf> Rolf, magnanimously: "We do our part, miss. When's the bit when we put Bob inna wicker man?" 10:44 <Quaker> In shorthand, obviously, so if anyone checked it would look like a mess of symbols and musical notation. 10:45 <banana> Sumi: "That's a good idea. Do you wanna burn him or is it the one where we throw him over a cliff?" 10:45 <Quaker> Jackal, Scarab, and Falcon…? 10:45 <banana> Samantha: "Greenwitch! I think you'd have to be in Cornwall." 10:45 <Quaker> Ha…couldn’t be….. 10:46 <banana> The jackal-headed man holds out his palms to Hatch, cupped, and turns his (jackal) head to Samuel. 10:46 <tom> "Oh man, do I get to pick? Cliff-tossing seems less painful but the full Wicker Man sounds sick as hell." 10:46 <banana> "A pinch of dust for the Tatterdam, in memory of worlds that were." 10:46 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”Please don’t set Robert on fire. I still haven’t replaced that track suit.” 10:46 <banana> Plape: "Thank-" 10:46 <banana> Jackal-headed man: "And will be again." 10:46 <tom> "No! Not the bees!" He chuckles. 10:47 <VoxPVoxD> Haha. They’re all rude. 10:47 <banana> Sumi's head snaps to the table. There's a pause. 10:47 <banana> King Plape: "When?" 10:47 <banana> Jackal-headed man: "Soon. Before the next season of tribute." 10:47 <tom> ...Now that Sumi's paying attention, he is. 10:48 <hrolf> Witty repartee isn't Rolf's thing. The wicker man joke exhausted, he turns to watch the show. 10:48 <VoxPVoxD> Willie sits up straight again. 10:48 <banana> Plape: "Then thanks to you and yours, and Lord Khemut-Re... may we see him in Rose's season if at all." 10:48 <Crion> Hrrrrh. 10:48 <Quaker> Badawi’s hand goes into her satchel and wraps around an energy drink can. 10:49 <banana> All three of the cultists bow, although only the leader is any good at it. 10:49 <banana> Starling adds the dust-covered plate to the collection in front of him, and lays out one more. 10:50 <hrolf> Rolf nudges Bob in the ribs. "Wossat all about, 'ey?" 10:50 <VoxPVoxD> Aha! Willie’s assumptions were mostly right, like they mostly always are. 10:50 <tom> "Fuck you asking me for, dog? I barely knew what was going on before that." 10:51 <banana> The last queued tributary approaches the table - a barely-teen boy with oddly grey and shaggy hair. He's holding his back very straight. 10:51 <VoxPVoxD> “Mummy cultists, I think. At least one of them’s quite young.” 10:51 <VoxPVoxD> Bertie!! 10:51 <tom> "...Get one of the nerds to expl-" And then one does! Helpful. 10:51 <VoxPVoxD> Excuse me? 10:51 <banana> Samantha: "Unlike the mummy, presumably. I'll run that name by the Museum." 10:52 <hrolf> Rolf: "Mummy? Like em egyptian fings? Fahckin ell." 10:52 <VoxPVoxD> “Ssh!” 10:52 <banana> Bertie's carrying a battered briefcase; he hoists it up onto the table, unlocks it, and carefully removes a little plastic baggie. 10:52 <Crion> Interesting. 10:52 <tom> Bob is too busy not looking at the stare that he assumes Willie is lasering into the back of his head while he watches the proceedings. 10:53 <VoxPVoxD> She’s moved on. 10:53 <banana> His voice cracks a little, but it's just puberty. "A twist of hair for the Tatterdam, in recognition of guardianship shared." 10:53 <hrolf> Rolf: "Takes all sorts innit. Wouldn't want to be a vampire, but I can see getting somefing useful out of it even if you burn up in daylight. Wossa mummy gonna do, trip over its own bandages while runnin at a punter?" 10:53 <banana> Plape: "Thank you, Bertie. Please give my best wishes to John, and John senior." 10:54 <banana> Mari tells Bob, "That's all of them." 10:54 <tom> He squints as Rolf speaks. "I learned from Abbott and Costello that mummies carry terrible curses also." 10:55 <hrolf> Rolf: "Well, me mum did at any rate." 10:55 <banana> Riaan: "Sumi, I'll do up a dossier. Might leave early and get started." 10:55 <banana> Sumi: "No, no. Come under the hill.. there's six months, maybe. We don't need to know everything at once." 10:56 <tom> "Yeah Coetzee, you really gonna bail on us if something comes through and I gotta do a martyrdom?" 10:56 <VoxPVoxD> Oh wow. ‘Let me give myself a homework assignment and then do it for you’. The poor man has no chance. 10:56 <tom> He tsks. 10:56 <banana> The table is quiet again. The regents of Spring and Summer say something, but it's not amplified like the rest of the ceremony - private, presumably. Starling arranges the five odd plates in front of him, and he and Plape turn to face each other. 10:57 <banana> Riaan: "That hardly ever happens." 10:57 <banana> Mari: "Think scary thoughts." 10:58 <banana> Sumi nods at that. Pretty much all of the changelings have gone quiet. 10:58 <Quaker> Badawi has returned to the cell, close enough to overhear their conversations regarding mummies and cultists. She relaxes a little with Bob and Rolf directly between her and them. 10:58 <hrolf> With someone blocking his view, Rolf squints at the table and raises his voice loudly. "I can't see it...wossat they doin up there?" 10:58 <banana> Mari: "Quiet, please!" 10:59 <banana> Plape: "Thus fortified, sir?" 10:59 <banana> Starling: "Ready when you are, sir." He pauses for a moment. "I know you're ready, Sammy." 10:59 <VoxPVoxD> Willie thinks about someone knocking at her door, looking through the peephole, seeing Simpson Kirkpatrick’s eye looking back at her, feeling her will seize up... 11:00 <banana> The Autumn King taps his fingers on the table, once, and faces his successor. He takes a deep breath, which sets the rags he wears a-flutter. 11:00 <banana> Then he raises his arms to his head, taking the wreath in both hands. 11:01 <VoxPVoxD> What does it feel like to die of blood loss? Maybe it’s painless, comfortable. Like slipping into a warm bath. Maybe he wouldn’t let it be. Maybe she’d feel like she was being turned inside out. 11:01 <Quaker> Badawi is thinking of a dingy office in Buenos Aires, green paint peeling from the walls and filing cabinets starting to rust at the edges, men’s angry voices rising and boots thudding down the corridor outside, the doorknob turning and fists hammering at the locked door. 11:02 <VoxPVoxD> Maybe she’d wake up a night or a fortnight or a decade hence, without anyone else, with nowhere else to go, hating the sun and loving him. 11:02 <banana> It takes a couple of minutes. The wind picks up, and up, clouds passing swiftly between the moon and the tree and sending shadows scudding across the floodlit hilltop. Plape lifts the Crown further and further away from his brow as it twists and changes, writhing into uncontrolled and yearning shapes. 11:02 <VoxPVoxD> Maybe she’d tell herself she’d been given a second chance. 11:02 <banana> Hatch watches, does something with the tributes, raises his hands, waiting. 11:02 <tom> Bob closes his eyes and clutches his girlfriend close. He gives no external sign that the inside of his mind is in flames. 11:03 <tom> ...But after a moment, she can feel the fear and sadness rolling off him in great waves as he dips his toe into the ocean, for just a second. 11:03 <banana> Samuel holds the Crown of Seasons out to Hatch, face blank with concentration, and the other man puts his hands on it as well. All at once, the artifact stops shifting and becomes a single thing, a mobius strip made of hard-edged ice. 11:04 <hrolf> Rolf is unaffected, apart from annoyance at having his view partially obscured. 11:04 <Crion> Remarkable. 11:04 <VoxPVoxD> Now she feels lonely, hollow, sad. 11:04 <banana> The wind rises to a fever pitch. The Autumn Regent lets go abruptly and Starling raises the crown to his head. All of the lights go out. The party is over. 11:04 <banana> Sumiya lets out a breath she was holding. 11:05 <banana> As your eyes become accustomed to the gloom, Sergio's the first one to look up at the tree and exclaim, because his don't need to. The leaves and fruits are gone; the yew is as vast as ever, but seems entirely dead. 11:06 <hrolf> Rolf: "That it?" He shoots a glare at a tall, construction-crane looking thing that was blocking his view as it walks away. "Wot happened exactly? I couldn't see..." 11:06 <tom> Bob elbows the man in the gut. 11:06 <banana> Samantha touches her face, just wearing a small mask now instead of entirely skin-velveted; she fumbles for a moment and unstraps it, checking Aster to ensure he's no longer porpoiseful. 11:06 <tom> "C'mon!" He hisses. 11:06 <banana> Mari: "It's okay now." 11:06 <tom> "...Sorry." 11:07 <VoxPVoxD> Willie takes her mask off and slumps back, head in Sergio’s chest. The winter air is sharp and cold on her sweat and tear-dampened face. 11:08 <Crion> Aster murmurs, "I'm assuming this means the ritual succeeded." 11:08 <banana> People are beginning to stand, to talk, to leave their seats which are growing damp with dew. At the high table, the three regents have stood, gathering around the Winter King to quietly speak before they too leave. 11:09 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”It definitely feels like winter now.” 11:09 <banana> Sumi: "One more season, Mr. Aster. Saul hasn't had a failure in many years, so one more after that, and on. And fairy-lights vanish when you catch sight of them, and the odd door in the alley goes nowhere after all." 11:10 <banana> She turns to include Samantha: "I'd just like to emphasise that we are not the problem here." 11:10 <banana> Blackfin: "Yeah, I get it." 11:10 <banana> "What was the cost?" 11:10 <tom> Now it's Bob's turn to rub his girlfriend's shoulders. "That's good, right, the hard part's all over?" 11:11 <VoxPVoxD> “For three months.” 11:11 <VoxPVoxD> “But it is a constant vigil.” 11:11 <banana> Mari: "Yup. Everyone else goes home. You can come under the hill if you like, B- we've got a little bit more to do, just Winter, and then the night's over for real." 11:12 <tom> "But of course." 11:12 <Quaker> Have the monkeys packed up yet? 11:12 <banana> Sumi tells Willie, "Heavy lies the head that bears the crown. Somebody said that." 11:12 <banana> Samantha: "..." 11:12 <banana> The monkeys are done. Most people are packing and leaving in some haste; it's bloody cold, now. 11:12 <VoxPVoxD> Willie stands and gives a biiiiiiig stretch. ”For within the hollow crown that rounds the mortal temples of a king keeps Death his court...” 11:12 <hrolf> Rolf: "Wot was that about a cost?" 11:13 <Quaker> : ( 11:14 <banana> Samantha: "Changeling magic is all about promises - exchanges and enforcements. Any kind of powerful ritual will trade something for something else... I'd guess what we saw tonight, the benefit side is keeping out the 'unseelie'." 11:14 <tom> The wolf-mask finally comes off; Bob chucks it into one of the trash receptacles. He wipes the sweat from his bow and flips on his visor. 11:14 <Quaker> Badawi: “Who do we see about getting our guns back? I don’t want to keep my driver waiting.” 11:14 <tom> "If you gotta go now I can pick it up with me when I leave, Badawi." 11:14 <banana> Sumi: "Good point, Agostina. Come with me, I'll bully someone into unlocking you." 11:15 <VoxPVoxD> How’s Sergio doing? 11:15 <hrolf> Rolf: "So the cost would 'ave to be somefing big? To keep the creepy crawlies out?" 11:15 <Crion> Aster takes off his mask but pockets it rather than trashing it. He's sober enough to drive, now. 11:15 <tom> "You coming to the thing, Sumi, or nah? If so, see ya." 11:15 <banana> Riann follows Sumi. "Mari, you know the way, right? Bring Bob if he's coming." 11:15 <tom> "Of course I'm coming man..." 11:15 <Crion> Christ, Bob's night continues? Youth. 11:15 <banana> Samantha nods at Rolf. More insightful than she'd heard, this one. "Yeah, I didn't think keeping the elves out was even.. feasible, really." 11:16 <VoxPVoxD> “Just because it’s been done for centuries doesn’t mean it is feasible, of course.” 11:16 <Quaker> Then Badawi will say goodbye for the night. “Goodnight, everyone. Pleasure meeting you, Mari, Samantha. Drive safe.” 11:16 <Crion> Aster: "Many things are possible that otherwise wouldn't be, if you're willing to bring in the mages and the sages." 11:16 <VoxPVoxD> “Good night, Agostina.” 11:16 <Crion> "Have to say, all of them working together is a bit unnerving. Good night, Badawi." 11:16 <hrolf> Rolf, quietly so only Samantha can hear: "Couldn't 'elp but no'ice they didn't answer you, like..." 11:16 <tom> Bob gives Badawi a lazy salute. 11:17 <Crion> Aster looks askance at Hughes whispering to his...colleague. 11:17 <banana> Samantha: "Obviously it's not easy for them, but to do it at all... I wasn't surprised to get the brush-off. Glitz and glamour, not all a facade but there's something under it as usual." 11:18 <Quaker> As they’re walking, Badawi brings something up to Sumiya. “Does your Court do work for that armored sorceror? The one holding the tribute with ten seals?” 11:18 <Quaker> “Or Courts, I should say.” 11:18 <banana> Sumi: "No... except the work we do for everyone. He's a creep. The only thing we've got in common is what wizards call the Veil." 11:19 <banana> "A wall between worlds. Wizards want it sealed off just as much as we do, for possibly the same reasons." 11:20 <Quaker> “Between which worlds? I’ve heard of the Gauntlet, which stands between us and spirits…” 11:20 <hrolf> To Samantha: "Just 'ope they're not upto somefing nasty.." 11:22 <tom> And that'd be surprising? Is what he doesn't say. 11:22 <banana> Sumi: "Well, that's a good question. Our enemies are in Arcadia, kingdom of enchantment, abode of the fae. We call the path of thorn and thistle that separates us from Arcadia the Hedge." 11:22 <banana> Riaan: "I take it we're giving out all the arcane secrets, Sumi." 11:23 <banana> Sumi: "Eh, there's no scenario where Agostina's on the other side." 11:23 <banana> "What the wizards tell us is that Faerie is like.. one of five evil worlds. Ten? Another one is where spirits come from, and the barrier there is called the Gauntlet, and so on." 11:24 <banana> "Now, I can't vouch for any of that, but the Hedge.. we agree on that much." 11:24 <tom> Instead, he'll squeeze Mari and watch all her arms fold around him in turn. 11:25 <Quaker> “How curious. Not to worry, Riaan. If we ever come across a servant of your enemies we’ll be sure to put a bullet in them.” 11:25 <banana> Coetzee: "Much obliged." 11:25 <Quaker> “Which Court do you belong to, sir?” 11:25 <banana> Sumi opens the weapons locker, and you can get out whatever you need. 11:25 <banana> Riaan: "Oh, I'm also of the Winter Hill. Never minded the cold, you know." 11:26 <Quaker> Badawi opens the duffel bag and checks that everything is there. She pulls out Luisa and gives it a quick field strip, just for thoroughness’s sake. 11:27 <VoxPVoxD> Willie’s ready to bring Sergio home. 11:27 <banana> Mari would in thery like to know what Rolf and Samantha are talking about... but not enough to butt in. She'll take Bob's hand. "Ready for one last bit of magic?" 11:27 <Quaker> “Then I won’t keep you anymore. Thank you for the good time. And if you ever want to ask for our help or share information, you know where to reach us.” 11:27 <banana> Sergio: "Incredible people. An incredible night. Your place or mine?" 11:27 <Quaker> “Oh, speaking of information…” 11:28 <VoxPVoxD> Willie nuzzles him. ”Yours is closer.” 11:28 <Quaker> “Well, first…I’ve heard that the wizards you’re talking about, the one the armored fellow belongs to, are merely one of several factions in some kind of magic civil war. Each slinging nasty rumors about the others, that sort of thing. I’d take whatever anyone says with a grain of salt.” 11:29 <tom> "You know it babe," Bob flashes his iconic (?) smile. There's just a tinge of nervousness there as he's looking into her dark eyes, seemingly unsure which to meet with his gaze. There are so many. 11:29 <banana> Samantha tells Rolf, and Aster, "One night of interviews and learning what they're willing to tell me the way they want to spin it isn't enough to ascertain that. My initial impression is... they're sincere about the purpose, and this crown/tree system keeps the Fae at bay. Which can only be a good thing. The other side of the equation, I just don't know." 11:29 <banana> She shivers a little. 11:29 <Quaker> “Second, there’s some kind of vampire beast on the loose at the moment. We’re working on killing it. No need to cause a panic, and I’m sure you take safety seriously…but maybe stay indoors at night for a week or two?” She looks up at the winter early morning. “Not that the weather here gives us much choice.” 11:30 <Crion> Aster: "The conventional wisdom is that scales always balance -- a great boon always comes at an equivalent cost. I wonder, though. We've rarely seen any actual evidence of that even in the mundane world." 11:30 <Crion> "Who says you can't unfairly have it all?" 11:30 <VoxPVoxD> That’s right. 11:30 <banana> Riaan: "Cripes." He and Sumi have halted at the path down the hill, where Badawi will presumably be heading; they're going to go back up it for the final whatever-it-is. 11:31 <hrolf> Rolf: "No such fing as a free lunch, mate." 11:31 <banana> Sumiya: "We're definitely ok to avoid vampiric beasts. Even the nice vampires, and there are nice ones, are pretty... avoidable." 11:31 <Crion> Aster: "The rich and famous get free lunches and dinners all the time. That's what the COMP button on the point of sale is for." 11:31 <Crion> "That's one of the perks." 11:31 <Quaker> “Who are the nice ones, do you think? I’ll keep an eye out for them.” 11:32 <banana> Sumi: "Watch out for a really fast one that helps ladies cross busy roads. Old or otherwise." 11:32 <tom> Bob watches the various partygoers filter out into the night, paying particular attention to the Carthian councilor as she goes. He doesn't say anything. 11:33 <Quaker> Badawi bows to the fairies. “Thank you for your hospitality and good luck with your season’s work. Goodnight.” 11:33 <banana> Samantha: "It's possible that there's a cost which is just, worth paying." 11:33 <banana> "I wish they hadn't put all the fires out at once, though. Your car had heating, right?" 11:34 <banana> Mari tells Bob, "Thanks for tonight. Being there." 11:34 <banana> "Anything you want to know about the ceremony? Terrible and ancient secrets of the Lost?" 11:35 <banana> As they talk, they're heading across the hill, around the vast base of the Tatterdam to the other side. 11:35 <VoxPVoxD> In the car on the way back to Sergio’s, Willie’s become more alert. They’re mostly not talking, and there’s music on. When the track changes, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAdxhHz6Tu4 Willie says abruptly ”I can just pick my own, can’t I? Why shouldn’t I? Who cares what some bloody gadget says?” 11:36 <hrolf> Rolf says his goodbyes and walks back to his car, alone. Thank fuck that's over. 11:36 <Crion> Aster rolls his eyes. "Yes, dear. I paid for the model that has heating." 11:36 <Quaker> There’s a light on in the van’s cabin. Amjad is sitting under a very thick knitted blanket and reading a Western novel, while a red thermos and a chewed-upon apple core sit on the expansive dashboard. Badawi waves to get his attention through the windshield, and walks around to the passenger’s side. “Thanks for waiting.” 11:37 <banana> Sergio: "If we obeyed every notification on our devices... there would be a lot of happy general managers." 11:38 <Quaker> Amjad puts his things away and hands her the blanket as she climbs in and takes her mask off. While she gets comfortable, he turns the engine on and cranks the heater. “Alright, then? You did not all get carried off by evil laughing elves?” 11:38 <Crion> Aster is not so tired that he wants to leave Samantha at her hotel, however. At least, not alone. He'll be up and about in time for work tomorrow; might skip the early run. 11:38 <Quaker> Badawi grabs at his phone and syncs the bluetooth to the van’s speakers. “No, nothing very exciting happened. Just a networking event, really. You know how they like to dress it up.” 11:38 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”I’m sorry if colleagues pulled me away from your side too much tonight. But we’ve got the rest of the night to ourselves.” 11:39 <banana> Sergio grins sideways at her. He's ready for it. 11:41 <banana> As hunters leave - or go deeper, in Bob's case - anyone who's got Huntr will find a couple of new entries in the track list. 11:41 <tom> As soon as he's alone with her again, he'll sweep her up into his arms. He clicks his tongue: "And here I was about to thank you." 11:42 <tom> "I keep standing around and ladies keep thanking me for it. This is the best job I've ever had." 11:43 <banana> One of them is just Bob's song again, which he expects, having turned the device on himself for an update after he got Starling's readout. The OCR text is mostly familiar - "Hiding deep parts of himself -- cue the combat theme again -- don't overuse, this is not a farce." 11:43 <tom> Hmm. 11:43 <tom> The minor change might be valuable in its own right... 11:43 <banana> Another, only some of them already know - back at the greybox, someone's been curious, playing around with the device and the recording setup. 11:44 <Quaker> “Is McDonald’s open? Let’s stop for something on the way back.” She settles on a track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnJ6LuUFpMo . “Oh, how did Shafiq enjoy the ocean? I’ll help out the next time you go.” 11:44 <banana> Richard Haldane, the False Unicorn - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaEMdK1wnac 11:44 <banana> “Always fiddling with something -- wires, files, his tie -- idle hands are someone’s playthings.” 11:45 <banana> Mari: "Did you have a job before they got you on the sun bomb thing?" 11:45 <tom> "I was the Assistant Manager at a Wendy's." 11:46 <banana> "That doesn't sound great, aye." 11:46 <banana> Around the back of the hill a door has opened in the turf. It's round, wooden, painted and wasn't there when you were driving around the hill on the way here. 11:46 <Quaker> As they drive back, Badawi will type up her report to Octocat. 11:47 <banana> Other Winter courtiers are dribbling in from the dead party - Joanna Maybe is by the hobbit-hole, waiting. 11:47 <tom> "It's not rude to use my Truesight on folks, right?' 11:47 <tom> " 11:47 <tom> Joanna is... made of metal? 11:47 <VoxPVoxD> Maybe, 11:49 <banana> Coathangers, basically. There's a sort of scrubbing-brush component to it - the wire structure that makes up her body has bristles in some parts, insulators in others. 11:50 <banana> It's rigid enough wire to stay in place, but still ductile - she can stretch. 11:50 <banana> Mari: "Just treat people as you'd want to be treated if something had turned you into- hmm. I take that back." 11:51 <banana> "My suggestion is, don't bring that stuff up out of the blue, but you don't have to hide the fact that you can see." 11:51 <tom> Oh man. Bob is getting so pissed off as he looks at Joanna, then wills himself to see her sad smile, and controls his facial muscles. 11:51 <tom> If I get my hands on one of those motherfuckers, wow. It won't be quick. 11:51 <Crion> Bob? Bringing up compromising self-defeating information unprompted? Doesn't sound like him. 11:52 <tom> "...Yeah, yeah okay. Hey Joanna," he'll add as they approach conversation range. 11:52 <banana> Joanna: "Good evening, Mari. Bob." 11:52 <banana> Mari: "Yo." 11:52 <tom> "Cool party." 11:52 <banana> Joanna: "Yo?" 11:53 <banana> Mari: "Sorry, 'yo' doesn't mean anything. I'm just... relieved, you know." 11:53 <banana> The day after the party is, actually, Samhain. November 1st. 11:55 <banana> Bob stayed at Henry's Hill until the 1st; the others had other things to do, in some cases including sleep. It's not until much later that they're all together in the safehouse, catching up on routine and making preparations for the Hunt, glamour of the Lost bleeding away under daylight and the concretised walls. 11:55 <banana> The masked ball, the Tatterdam, the kings and spells... it seems very far away already. 11:56 <banana> There's plenty to do. Willie, for one, has a message she's been putting off. Richard's around if anyone needs information or help! 11:56 <Crion> Aster is enjoying his coffee and occasionally stretching more than he usually does; lots of dancing and exertion last night, in a body just on the wrong side of 45, means an uncomfortable morning. He's also checking his e-mail to see if there's been any fallout from Bob casually mentioning that they're also doing work for VI4. 11:56 <hrolf> Rolf enters the common area, red(er than usual), huffing, puffing and completely out of breath. He stands, leaning against a wall breathing in gasps. “…fahckin…ell.” 11:57 <banana> Last night, though, Joanna: "Yeah, he did it. Smoother than the last success. It'd be nice if we could just.. keep going." 11:57 <banana> Mari: "I don't think that's possible. The burden gets heavier and heavier, like a dam filling up... although I don't really know. Are we going in?" 11:58 <banana> Richard: "My God, Mr. Hughes, what's pursuing you?" 11:58 <VoxPVoxD> Willie’s working from the Greybox today. Mostly heads-down time until the stand-up at 3. So she’s working on a message in Signal to Simpson Kirkpatrick. <Significant Progress on the Salford Case. Complication and enquiry: evidence suggests that the gardeners have succumbed to revenance; attacking humans indiscriminately; Dire Security Implications; violent altercation highly plausible. 11:58 <VoxPVoxD> I need parameters, and renegotiation of circumstances> 11:59 <hrolf> Rolf doesn't answer him immediately, gasping some more. After a bit, when he's recovered: "They ran out of fackin petrol again at all the pumps near me place. 'ad to use the city bike fing to get 'ere on time...didn't know this fackin city had so many slopes!" 11:59 <banana> Baron Weaste doesn't respond immediately, not during the daytime... but he does respond soon. <Parameters I'd rather not commit to a keyboard. Negotiation demands immediacy. Can you take a call?> 11:59 <Quaker> Badawi is slowly going through a yoga routine in a far corner of the room. While the little VCR display and TV on the dolly play The Heiress (1949, dir. William Wyler), she switches between a half-moon and a one-handed handstand. 12:00 <VoxPVoxD> Willie, out loud: ”A centuries-old vampire wants to call immediately.” 12:00 <banana> Weaste: <This would be an excellent opportunity to bring in your colleagues, hitherto at a remove. Specialist perspectives welcomed.> 12:01 <VoxPVoxD> Willie, on her phone: <I can arrange that momentarily.> 12:01 <tom> Bob is at his workbench, chopping up matchheads and burning them in the autoclave, nodding to the beat on his headphones. He repeats the process, taking the burned cremains and scraping a brownish residue into a container of water simmering on a hotplate. 12:01 <VoxPVoxD> “Who wants in?” 12:01 <VoxPVoxD> “Who wants to put in their ears?” 12:01 <Quaker> Badawi is doubled over. “Do we have a speakerphone?” 12:01 <banana> Weaste: <Do you mean that you will arrange it in a moment, or that you can speak for a moment? Hah.> 12:02 <VoxPVoxD> <the former, Lord weaste> 12:02 <Quaker> “Wait, how are they awake? It’s light out.” 12:02 <tom> Bob's about to step into a magic door on the side of a hill with his spider: "I'm ready to rock." 12:02 <VoxPVoxD> “Vampires can be awake during the day time. It’s just miserable.” 12:02 <banana> Sumi turns up, and she doesn't have any qualms about going straight in the hole - Under, presumably, the Hill. Mari follows, pulling on Bob's hand; Joanna shrugs and does the same. 12:02 <banana> There's an earthen ramp leading down into darkness, but you can see a soft glow at the end. 12:03 <hrolf> Rolf collapses into a seat, wiping sweat off his face. "Yeah all right. Probably about time we 'andled the bloodsuckers situation, hey?" 12:03 <banana> Mari: "The roots of the Tatterdam are down here. Old and new." 12:03 <Quaker> “Oh. I’ll get on the call.” She puts on a wireless headset before going back to her mat. 12:03 <VoxPVoxD> Willie wordlessly tosses Rolf a headset. 12:03 <tom> Mari will find that Bob is overtaking her down the tunnel, and his grip on her hand relaxes as he surges with newfound confidence. She'll have to scuttle at speed, or she'll find herself being led in turn. 12:03 <banana> Haldane: "It shouldn't be able to trace anything to where we are, insofar as we are anywhere. I'm not going to set up a microphone, but if you don't mind... I'd love to listen in." 12:04 <VoxPVoxD> “By all means.” 12:04 <VoxPVoxD> Is Aster hiding? 12:04 <hrolf> Rolf catches it out of the air and plugs it in. "This fing on? Allo allo." 12:04 <banana> Aster's email has been ominously silent. 12:04 <Quaker> On second thought: “Richard, could you please print out a summary of the different vampires we know of and their relationships in some kind of graphic when you have a free moment? Thank you.” 12:05 <Crion> Well. 12:05 <banana> Haldane: "I was born free for this." 12:05 <Quaker> More grist for the store credit mill. 12:06 <banana> Bob overtakes Premson on the ramp, wheeling Kylie carefully. There are others at the bottom already, including Paul Z, who he didn't see at the ball - looks like the whole Hill is gathering. 12:07 <banana> The other person already waiting in the small natural chamber beneath the tree is Lettie Barrowsmith. 12:07 <tom> Bob switches off his music and quietly connects his headset to the call. There's a layer of clear resin forming on the hotplate. He takes a cardboard box and empties it into the steaming water. A handful of double-aught buck plops into the bowl, dipped into the molten white phosphorus. 12:08 <tom> He's listening. 12:09 <banana> They gather, quickly. Hatch is still missing - last Bob saw, he was talking to the Count-Regents - but everyone else Bob knows has made their way under the hill. It's just an irregular hole in the ground with a few benches made of hard stone, and enough room between them for a few people to stand up. Enormous wooden roots pass in and out of the walls, some petrified, and plunge further into 12:09 <banana> the earth. 12:09 <VoxPVoxD> Once Aaron’s decided whether or not he’s on the call, Willie will message Kirkpatrick with the number Richard gives her to call in on. 12:10 <Crion> Aster will sit in on mute. 12:10 <tom> Letitia gets a nod from the hunter. She's definitely not still wreathed in black swarms of mind-bugs, yeah? Yeah. 12:10 <hrolf> Rolf is definitively unmuted. 12:10 <VoxPVoxD> ’ere we go 12:10 <banana> If Aster's in, Richard sets up a conference phone in the middle of the boardroom table. After half a minute waiting, there are three rings before it picks up automatically, and then a series of clicks and a hum. 12:11 <Crion> Aster debates whether he should warn Rolf that he'll Talon the 'blighter' if he starts saying things that could definitively get Willie killed. He figures it's understood. 12:12 <banana> A slightly remote, plummy voice. "This is Kirkpatrick. I believe I'm calling the Nameless House." 12:12 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”That’s right, sir. We’re on the line. Willie here. You received my message and wished to speak directly to the team.” 12:12 <tom> Bob glances around the darkened hollow: "I think I've been here. Yeah, it's in Teldrassil." 12:14 <banana> Simpson: "An accurate recap. Whoever you all may be - I'd like to start by thanking you for taking on this work. As Wellsley has just indicated, searching for our missing peers is not without danger." 12:15 <hrolf> Rolf: "You're not wrong mate, they've gone gaga." 12:15 <VoxPVoxD> Willie’s briefly and viciously tempted to helpfully identify Rolf by name. 12:16 <tom> Bob turns off the plate and lets it cool for a bit before reaching for a pair of tweezers. 12:17 <banana> Simpson: "Please expound on that." 12:17 <tom> One by one, the buck goes into the tray, where each little phosphorus-coated sphere hardens and turns milky, then opaque. 12:17 <Crion> Aster will helpfully pass Willie his written report on the matter, which also went to WASC. 12:18 <tom> Bob packs the buckshot into the shell with his thumb. 12:18 <VoxPVoxD> Willie reports in, reading from Aaron’s report and her own notes on the interview with Agatha. The pattern of violence, the nature of the attacks, the yawning hunger that aches through the blood... 12:18 <banana> Kirkpatrick is silent until she's done. Did the report include the Gangrel Ghoul Gang? 12:18 <VoxPVoxD> Did Aaron’s? 12:19 <Crion> Aster's report includes that. He does not particularly care the degree to which it is disclosed; it's a calculated gamble that could go either way in terms of lighting a fire, so to speak, under VI4. All he cares about is not technically being the one disclosing. 12:20 <VoxPVoxD> Willie will not omit it. 12:20 <banana> Richard leans back with his eyes closed, listening to the hunters and... client. 12:20 <Quaker> Can Badawi get a copy of that report? She’ll pass a note over. 12:21 <banana> Simpson: "So to summarise this mess, Ruth is certainly intact but may have starved to the point of irrecoverability. Alex is unknown but implied by the nature of her marauding. You have leads - from Agatha, and from the police." 12:22 <banana> "Allow me to preempt your renegotiation?" 12:23 <VoxPVoxD> “You have our attention.” 12:24 <banana> Simpson: "The pitch was that you'd find Count and lady Salford. More dangerous than actually difficult, and well-paid for it. If - if they have succumbed to revenancy, we've no intention of asking you to actually destroy them." 12:24 <banana> "What we'd want from you in that case is simple: give us the location and as much as you know about how or why this monstrous thing came to pass." 12:25 <VoxPVoxD> “Would it be your intention to destroy them, sir? With an in-house team?” 12:26 <Crion> Aster shakes his head. Nothing's ever simple. At this point they should probably just pick a side. But, not his conference call. 12:26 <banana> Simpson: "Yes. We have the thickness of skin to take care of our own." 12:26 <banana> "Here's what concerns me: Why revenancy? It's not just a matter of starvation. What that does is put you to sleep." 12:27 <banana> "Something has happened. I want to know what it is, and where my old friends are, and if you can return them to Inchcape - wonderful. If you can't, give us enough to bring Inchcape to them. And you get paid." 12:28 <tom> Bob crimps the shell's plastic case and sets it in a box. It's joined by another, then another. 12:29 <banana> Under the hill, Letitia grins widely at Bob - no more maggots. "We meet again, somehow." 12:29 <banana> "Good evening, Mariam, Sumiya, Kylie..." 12:30 <tom> "You thought I was kidding when I said... you're really killing me, miss." 12:30 <tom> He smiles anyway. 12:31 <banana> Lettie: "Why are you letting humans into your court?" 12:31 <banana> Joanna: "He's a nice person." 12:32 <banana> Premson: "Doesn't scare easily." 12:32 <tom> Bob grins: "How do you know I'm really human. Can you tell?" 12:32 <banana> Lettie: "Sure, let me taste your vein a little..." 12:32 <Quaker> Badawi keys her bead. “Good morning, Baron. This is Ana, from the team. I had a question for Your Lordship.” 12:33 <tom> "My girlfriend is right here," he laughs. 12:33 <banana> Sumi: "The tree looks ok." She's standing in the middle of the chamber, gazing up at the ceiling. There's a cluster of roots up there too, much smaller than the rest... but alive. 12:33 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”It is mysterious, sir, yes. We will continue to investigate, and we will make a full report of our findings. But if the Gardeners are unrecoverable, they represent a serious threat to both the public health and security. It will not have gone unnoticed here across the river. Is there not a concern about political exposure, as well as physical danger?” 12:33 <tom> For real though. Mari gets a gentle squeeze. 12:36 <banana> Simpson: "Yes there is. Great messaging - look at the old monsters as they snap and snarl - and frankly it's near-certain the Movement had a hand in creating this situation. Once you close in on a location, I'd like you to let us know what's there as soon as feasible, so the Mayor's people don't move in." 12:37 <banana> "It sounds like they're watching you. Find Alex and Ruth mindless - they'd want them to display for propaganda and then execute. Find them alive - the Constable gets his axe back out. Can you shake a blood-scried tail?" 12:38 <tom> Bob, to the Carthian Councilor: "It's been surprisingly tough threading the needle around saying things that get you killed down here, huh." 12:39 <tom> "...I got reamed pretty hard for talking to you so uh... yeah..." 12:39 <banana> Lettie: "Oh, the killings were over a hundred years now. Before my time or any of yours." She looks around the chamber, where Winter people talk quietly. 12:39 <banana> "Or at least before any of you were, ah, in this place." 12:40 <banana> Mari: "So you've met through Bob's work?" 12:40 <Crion> Aster rolls his eyes at that. It's certainly not a GOOD idea to reveal that the cell has their own version of the Willie/Simpson connection but with the WASC, but it would certainly require less artful dodging around the truth. 12:40 <Crion> Blood-scrying. 12:40 <Crion> Please. 12:41 <banana> While the team is contemplating how to steer Simpson's 'renegotiation' to where they want.. he answers Badawi. "Morning, Anna. What is your question?" 12:41 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”Yes, sir, we can.” 12:41 <VoxPVoxD> If Aaron wants to come across with that Willie will back him up. 12:41 <VoxPVoxD> Obviously not something she can volunteer, though. 12:43 <VoxPVoxD> That said, she does enjoy a good artful dodge. 12:43 <tom> Bob: "...Killings?" 12:43 <banana> Barrowsmith: "I figured out what you meant by human sacrifice." 12:44 <banana> Sumi, to Premson: "Hatch isn't deeper inside or something?" 12:44 <tom> "Ah." 12:44 <banana> Premson: "No, he's just busy. You know how the regents get when they're all..." 12:45 <banana> Sumi: "Firing on all cylinders? Temporarily found their marbles? During times when the two short planks have been extended end to end?" 12:45 <Quaker> “If your Lordship will permit me to raise a painful topic, I hope we can spare you and your peers some further worry. Have you given any thought to what will be done with the Gardener’s remains if the worst comes to pass and they are unrecoverable, and you dispatch your own team to put them to rest? If I recall correctly, the remains of powerful Kindred can retain some of the power they held in unlife. From what we’ve learned, the Gardeners als 12:45 <Quaker> seem to have been party to some fierce personal disputes, and many of those parties have both an interest in the occult and an interest in occult activity.” 12:45 <Crion> Aster jumping on the call seems like a bad idea. His personality and Simpson's likely don't mix even before his conflicts. 12:47 <Quaker> “Additionally, and forgive me for putting it so inartfully, but I feel that your Court seems to be given to many very ambitious sorts, who may seek to manipulate the handling of prestigious remains to who knows what ends. It may be a service you wish to entrust to disinterested professionals, to avoid any headaches.” 12:47 <banana> Simpson: "Physical security would seem to be an issue, yes. To tell you the truth, I'm not more than ordinarily worried - we lost of our peers in far less controllable circumstances. But I wonder, are you about to pitch me an urn storage service?" 12:48 <banana> Mari: "Human sacrifice, as in...?" 12:48 <Quaker> Badawi: “We are not a funeral home, sir. But we can follow requests faithfully and discreetly, if you wished to ask us to take care of a matter which may give you trouble if handled by the wrong people.” 12:49 <banana> Paul Z: "This is the Barrowsmith. Presumably she's- you're- talking about Quintinshill." 12:49 <banana> Mari: "But how do you know about Quintinshill, baby?" 12:50 <banana> Simpson: "I'll take that under advisement. Indeed, if you manage to arrive five minutes too late after a Mayoralty hit squad's departed, snatch up the ashes somehow and ferry them home, we could probably arrange a consolation prize. But this is not an ideal outcome." 12:50 <tom> "I get yelled at when I tell people how I know about stuff." 12:51 <banana> "If you can keep them off your tail... do. It will enable success." 12:51 <banana> Simpson: "How's that for mission parameters?" 12:51 <banana> Presumably he's referring to the whole conversation rather than just this last statement. 12:52 <banana> Mari: "Right, if it's someone else's secret you don't have to say anything." 12:52 <Quaker> “Continue to track down the Gardeners, and report them to you if they are unrecoverable, while avoiding the attention of the Mayoralty?” 12:52 <banana> Simpson: "Agreeable." 12:54 <banana> Lettie: "And here I thought that whole thing was a Circle secret. Or one which belonged to your Winter Tor." 12:54 <banana> There's a light bobbing down the long ramp. Hatch Starling is on his way. 12:54 <hrolf> Rolf: "Well, fanks for your time. We'll get back to you when we 'ave somefing to report on." 12:56 <tom> Bob watches the Carthian councilwoman from behind mirrored lenses. "...Then I'm sorry for saying it. It wasn't my bit to tell." 12:57 <tom> "But you can't just talk about 'the killings' and drop it at that, can you?" 12:58 <banana> Lettie: "'Killing' is my editorialisation. I am an very modern woman." 12:58 <Quaker> Is the call over? 12:58 <banana> Hatch Starling: "You're not wrong, Barrowsmith." 12:59 <tom> "Hey Ice King." 12:59 <banana> Winter King: "This is history, Bob, which predates even Lettie, let alone the rest of our friends." 13:00 <banana> "A sacrifice was made, alright - one of four. The quadrant of Winter is North, and enchanting the northern span of the Tatterdam involved capturing an outflow of more than two hundred souls." 13:00 <tom> Should he... should he fuckin'... bow? He looks uncertain. None of the other Winter people are like, bowing to their new king... 13:00 <banana> They're mostly looking at their feet, away, etc, due to the nature of the conversation. 13:01 <tom> Aw shit, it's one'a these. 13:01 <banana> Starling: "We're here to remember them and renew their blessing." 13:01 <tom> "This is a no judgment zone." 13:02 <banana> Sumi: "Let's begin, so we can make it a no staying up late zone." 13:02 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”Thank you for your time, sir. Have a good day.” Then the call ends. 13:02 <hrolf> After the call, Rolf tears the headset off and holds up two fingers. “So if I get this straight - option one: if we ‘and this lot over to the toff vampires, they might take into their protective care, and if the other lot find out we’re dead.” He holds down one finger. “Option two - we off the gaga ones, and the toff lot goes mental - and we’re dead. “ He holds down the second. “Seems we’re fucked 13:02 <hrolf> either way innit?” 13:02 <hrolf> Rolf: “‘ere's wot I suggest - me da ‘ad a term for it, back at his old factory. A go-slow. We do the bare minimum, make a show of finding em - but we don’t actually do it. Not for the toffs, not for the solemn ones. We don’t kill ‘em, and we don’t save em, we just stay away. We don’t get paid - but we get to keep our ‘eads.” 13:02 <Quaker> Badawi takes her headset off and goes back to her handstand. 13:02 <banana> Haldane: "I'm with Mr. Hughes on this one. The most plausible outcomes involve some very fast talking to survive." 13:03 <banana> "However, my prescription is different: having committed to the job, we will simply have to talk very fast. It might be uncommonly easy for me to say that given where I'm sitting." 13:03 <tom> Bob nods to Sumi: "Yeah, let's make it quick." 13:03 <Quaker> “Why wouldn’t just killing them and claiming self-defense satisfy both parties?” 13:04 <banana> Hatch: "Chalk, please." 13:04 <Quaker> “And my vote continues to be for killing them.” 13:04 <Crion> Aster: "I think we should make a conscious decision about which flavor of killing them we prefer and tidily tie off the other contract." 13:04 <banana> Paul reaches into a pocket and hands some over. Everyone assembles themselves around the sides of the room- Mari tugs Bob over to a bench. "We're going to listen, drink, and go home." 13:05 <hrolf> Rolf: "Cos knowing those people, I don't fink they're going to be very happy with us when they told us they'd be sending their own team in." 13:05 <Crion> "I'm here to do work for a negotiated payment, not play tournament poker." 13:05 <hrolf> "There's other jobs we can do to make cash. This is one of em fings where there's no winning play." 13:05 <VoxPVoxD> “I don’t think it’ll be as difficult or dangerous as you’re suggesting. Both sides fear exposure. The WASC will not be sad to see the public menace go, and Vie will not be sad to see their responsibility disposed of in a discreet manner. It will require talking at a normal rate.” It must be noted she is speaking very quickly right now. 13:05 <tom> Bob nods and lets her lead him over to the bench, where he'll pull her up against his warm jacket. 13:06 <VoxPVoxD> “And there is now a significantly less dangerous route to the same goal, at the cost of a lower payout.” 13:06 <Crion> Aster: "I see the advantages to Rolf's version of 'blue flu,' but I don't think it's a permanent solution." 13:06 <tom> Back at his workstation, Bob has put his music back on his headphones. The box of shells goes into a drawer. He starts cleaning up. 13:07 <banana> Hatch Starling starts writing on the walls, the Crown of Seasons glowing dully blue within its twist of ice on his brow. The words spill off the cave as he finishes them - goblet, chalice, vessel - and come to life, forming various brass cups. 13:07 <Quaker> Badawi: “So, again, why can’t we just take out the Gardeners our way, and claim they surprised us and we had no choice when telling Vie?” 13:07 <Quaker> “Ah, then I guess we would make less money for the hardest work.” 13:08 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”We can. It’s just a bit riskier than simply following their orders for, yes, half the payout. Unless we’re feeling so lucky as to try and collect both contracts.” 13:08 <banana> Lettie takes the cups out of the air as they arrive and fills them with wine from a pair of bottles behind her. "The new roots are growing strong in your mended barrow. Satisfaction guaranteed." 13:08 <Quaker> “Let’s just find them and bug out. Scoop up the ashes, see if we can get something extra for services rendered.” 13:08 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks at Aaron. He’s the one who’d have the strongest objection to that. 13:08 <Crion> Aster: "Define 'bug out' here." 13:09 <hrolf> Rolf: "You know the fing about tangled webs and deception? And the bloodsuckers are a lot fackin better at it." 13:09 <tom> Bob hugs his spider. 13:09 <Quaker> “Determine their location, report the location, withdraw to a safe distance while Vie does the heavy lifting, take the remains if we need to, walk away.” 13:10 <Crion> "If Vie does the heavy lifting we are not getting the remains." 13:10 <Crion> "That is a clear red line from them." 13:10 <Quaker> “Seems pretty straightforward. Just need to keep running down leads and staying out of trouble. But it doesn’t involve trying to take down two elders and who knows whoever wants to keep them alive.” 13:10 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”It would be safer not to deceive anyone, Rolf, yes. And that is still totally possible from our position. We would get the Sheriff mad at us, but there’s no reason to assume he’d be killing-mad.” 13:10 <Quaker> “Well, then just determining and reporting. It’s still a million.” 13:11 <banana> Haldane: "What if we call in Vie on what we think are 'irrecoverables' and they say, well, maybe, and take them away for study and rehabilitation?" 13:11 <Crion> "My main consternation about this whole affair is that our eyes very clearly exceeded our stomachs and our grasp during the planning stages and we committed to so many different various things that now we have five teammembers and five different, completely incompatible views on how to resolve the situation. We will need to do better on this front moving forward." 13:11 <banana> Premson: "Letitia, how much can you perceive of the enchantment?" 13:12 <Crion> "As for right now? My inclination is to let Vie wrap the Gardners up and report to WASC that too bad, we were right there but you're not paying us to take on the elders, but we think they were revenants anyway so they're probably dusted." 13:12 <banana> Lettie: "Nothing at all until we're in the thick of it, and then it's more instinct than sight. But, you know, it's alive, right? And your rites are working." 13:12 <hrolf> Rolf: "Settin up two contra-dic'tory contracts with two groups of punters who 'ate each other was probably where we went wrong, I fink. 'ow did that 'appen?" 13:12 <Crion> "If money exhanges hands with Simpson after that, well, I don't ask where my paycheck comes from, and I'm in the clear." 13:12 <banana> Starling: "Yes. The tree will grow anew." He's finished manufacturing wine-cups, and everyone - everyone living - has one in hand. 13:13 <Quaker> “In the future, I think we should limit our vampire work to jobs from WASC. No offense, Willie. But we can’t be in a fluid posiiton on that. It’s far safer to be judged reliable by one faction than wishy-washy by both.” 13:13 <Crion> To Rolf: "Sourjack handed us both contracts and we pursued them as if they weren't mutually exclusive. This was our first mistake." 13:13 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”Basically we got tripped up because the WASC refused to tell us the job until we did an unrelated favour for them. So we’d followed one track only to find that something else pointed the same direction.” 13:13 <banana> Hatch Starling: "To George Meakin, traitor and hero. To James Tinsley, scapegoat and catalyst." 13:13 <Crion> "And yes, Brutus Barrigan suffers much of the blame." 13:13 <Quaker> Badawi: “Where is Sourjack, anyway?” 13:13 <VoxPVoxD> “In the future we should confine ourselves to following one lead at a time.” 13:14 <banana> Haldane: "We can get him on the black-and-white phone if you like. He's likely to check in before the week is out, if you don't like." 13:14 <banana> "Perhaps especially if you don't." 13:14 <hrolf> Rolf: "Badawi's right. The wasc lot are the lawful authority and run this place. If there's anyone we shouldn't be crossing, its them." 13:14 <tom> All of this is completely over the man's head, anyway. He's mostly watching the others' faces. Both of their faces, in some cases. 13:14 <VoxPVoxD> “It’s important to me for practical reasons to maintain a good relationship with Vie, but we don’t need to take their work for me to do that.” 13:14 <Quaker> “Let’s check in with him.” 13:14 <Crion> Aster: "I don't have any significant disagreement with Hughes and Badawi here." 13:14 <Crion> "...In the long term." 13:15 <VoxPVoxD> “So yes, after this job, if we confine our collective vampire work to the Council, that would suit me fine.” 13:15 <Crion> "I think we are at the moment in too deep with specifically this contract to do anything but tie it off in VI4's favor." 13:15 <banana> Richard: "I'll see if I can raise our employer, then." He gets up and heads to an alcove between the Wires. 13:16 <Crion> "Frankly, Simpson Kirkpatrick or Kirkpatrick Simpson or whatever the man's name is concerns me more than that 'Constable.'" 13:16 <VoxPVoxD> “Yes.” 13:16 <VoxPVoxD> “It’s the first one, incidentally.” 13:16 <banana> Mari takes a drink, as does everyone else. "I should've told you to go easy on the wine earlier, B." Sumi laughs. 13:16 <Quaker> Badawi grabs the coffee pot and her Garfield mug. “Whatever is the safest and most cautious path forward with the vampires for this contract is best. I agree with Aster. Follow the leads, report it to VI4, leave.” 13:16 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”That suits me.” 13:17 <VoxPVoxD> She feels like a huge weight has rolled off her chest. 13:17 <VoxPVoxD> She might... live...? 13:17 <banana> Hatch Starling: "Barrowsmith, I have the season. I am lucid and my hill is with me. Please open the way." 13:17 <tom> "I can take it." Bob takes the cup. Doth it overfloweth? 13:17 <hrolf> Rolf shakes his head. "And if the fang police find out that's what we did..?" 13:17 <banana> It's just wine, but quite a lot of wine. 13:17 <tom> Oh hell yes. 13:18 <VoxPVoxD> Has she been feeling that tension this entire time? ”Then they’ll be annoyed.” 13:18 <banana> Letitia raises her arms, lowers them again, looks back over her shoulder and raises an eyebrow. Premson stands up to give her a boost so she can reach the ceiling. 13:18 <Quaker> “We didn’t breach any contract with them. They’re not about to kill off contractors for a minor omission. From their perspective, what we’re up to is ultimately a very minor concern. I’m sure they have their own people on it.” 13:18 <Crion> Aster: "Thanks to Goreman, our associations with VI4 are out of the bag." 13:19 <Crion> "He directly told Barrowsmith about them due to his own...issues...at Samhein. So those consequences are coming regardless." 13:19 <Crion> "We are in triage." 13:19 <banana> The vampire reaches up again to grasp the ingrown limbs of the (new?) tree. She dangles from the leafy wood without her feet touching the ground, eyes rolling up in her face; Bob doesn't have a great viewing angle, but he can see them go white and then red with, obviously, blood. 13:20 <hrolf> Rolf: "That'll probably downplaying their reaction innit? We just 'and over two mad murders over to their blood enemies, done and dusted, sorry for the inconvenience mate, thank 'ee? Even if they're not angry enough to come after us wif a vengeance - that's the end of any work we could get from em in the future." 13:20 <banana> Richard: "Isn't that what you wanted?" 13:20 <Crion> Aster: "I've lost track of which 'they' are 'they,' Rolf." 13:20 <banana> To Badawi: "Not answering right now. I'll try again shortly." 13:20 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: “The primary exposure is Aaron’s, and I think Aaron’s reasoning for how to carry this forward is sound. We are not over the cliff, Rolf. We just got rather nearer than we meant to. There are several simple solutions to this, to which we’ve already agreed: we work one case at a time, and we confine ourselves, with the vampires, to Council work.” 13:21 <VoxPVoxD> “If the worst thing that happens is the vampires refuse to hire us - and I do think that is the worst-case scenario - you’d be delighted. You’d never have to see the blighters again, so you imagine.” 13:21 <Crion> Aster: "I have a rather convincing out with regards to how we got into this situation, and it has the advantage of being one hundred percent true: we were jerked around by a minor functionary who wanted a favor before putting us in contact with his boss." 13:22 <Crion> "This opened the door for VI4 to pitch us." 13:22 <banana> It becomes very cold in the under-hill, previously warm by virtue of being buried beneath the earth. Rather than Hatch, the chill is emanating from Lettie Barrowsmith. Bob sees.. something running down her arms. Ghostly plasms. They seep from the earth and the roots and flow out into the chamber, swirling around it, blotting out the light in patches. 13:22 <tom> That explains what the killings were for then. 13:22 <hrolf> To Richard: "Fair point, mate. If it gets all of em off our back - fine. But the vampire court isn't on a rules based law system or wotever innit? I don't fink they're going to let us go so easy on technical points - politics matters more 'n actual law for em innit? Like in China." 13:22 <banana> Has Bob ever seen a ghost before? 13:23 <tom> Yeah. Once. 13:23 <Crion> Aster: "They are extremely on a rules-based law system. They just don't have to respect it with regards to humans...except for me." 13:23 <banana> He's seeing about 230 more tonight. 13:23 <Crion> "I'm in the club, so to speak, for certain definitions thereof." 13:23 <tom> He takes a big ole gulp of wine. 13:23 <Quaker> “Thank you, Richard. Rolf, I think you’re underestimating how useful people like us can be to vampires. We know about them, are not hostile to them, are not beholden to the government, and are not involved in their internecine politics. They know very few mortals who are not the creatures of their personal rivals, or are trying to kill them on principle. We’ll have to trust on our own practical value to carry us through.” 13:23 <banana> Mari: "Thank you." She's not thanking Bob, but the spirits. The others around the chamber are murmuring thanks, as well. 13:23 <banana> The Winter King holds out his withered hands to stroke the flickering blobs as if they were pet animals. 13:24 <tom> "Thank you for your service." 13:24 <tom> It sounds pretty hollow. 13:24 <hrolf> Rolf: "We're clearly involved in their internecine politics though, innit. Right now, like." 13:24 <Quaker> “Not anymore than the bare mininum necessary.” 13:25 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”You have no idea what involved looks like. We exist in the same city as them.” 13:25 <VoxPVoxD> “Inevitably so. Unavoidably so.” 13:26 <Quaker> “Talking about monsters who practice blood slavery and sorcery which turns people into informants and traitors to themselves, I think we’ve maintained about as much distance as can be reasonably expected. Just knowing about them and once taking an PI job for them doesn’t make us fatally compromised.” 13:27 <banana> Starling: "You are bound to a veil between worlds. A sacrifice, made by people none of us ever met... except for me. New generations will come, to thank you without knowing what it really meant. Their hands ever-cleaner." 13:27 <banana> Lettie makes an incomprehensible gurgling noise. It seems to originate from outside her throat. 13:27 <tom> Is she okay? Everyone is acting like that's okay. 13:28 <banana> Kylie looks startled, and Paul's staring, fascinated - the others seem used to it. 13:28 <Quaker> Badawi: “Oh, while we’re all here.” 13:28 <banana> Starling: "I do not release you from the service of Winter." 13:28 <banana> Sumi: "Sorry." 13:28 <hrolf> Rolf: "If we do any more work on this job, this isn't going to end without us picking a side and making some powerful enemies." 13:28 <banana> Mari hisses "Sumi..." 13:29 <tom> He'll reach out and take Kylie reassuringly by the shoulder. He's smiling, but his hand shakes just so. 13:29 <Crion> Aster: "You keep saying that, and you're the only one saying that, and I'm worried it's going to become a self-fulfilling prophecy." 13:29 <banana> Everyone's finished their wine at just about the same time. Hatch raises a hand to his brow again, and the storm of ghosts begins to flow back into the vampire summoner's body, running up her nervous system (do vampires have one of those?) and back into the sapling growing within the dead tree. 13:30 <Crion> "Let me worry about WASC for now, at least until they make their next move." 13:30 <hrolf> Rolf: "I was also saying it'd be a mistake to get involved with vampires in the first place, and well. 'ere we are." 13:30 <tom> He returns his attention to Mari. If he remembers correctly, they do, although severing it isn't enough to paralyze one. 13:30 <banana> Riaan is on Bob's other side. Quietly: "You okay, mate?" 13:31 <Quaker> “Aster’s got a point. Rolf, you’re the one always blurting out things. If you’re so worried about us tripping up, take some public speaking classes first.” 13:31 <tom> Learned that one from firsthand experience. "Yeah it's just sad." 13:31 <tom> "Been there though." 13:31 <banana> Mari: "Oh yeah, this is Pretty Sad." 13:32 <banana> Sumi: "That's the way Willie types. Important Thing." 13:32 <banana> There are general chuckles and the mood lightens. 13:32 <Quaker> Badawi: “Anyway. Got another lead from the Liverpool mages.” 13:32 <Crion> Aster: "Mmm?" 13:32 <Crion> "Good news?" 13:32 <Crion> We could use some. 13:33 <banana> After a bit, Premson helps Lettie down. "Eugh," she says. "Worms in my throat." 13:33 <tom> Bob manages a self-effacing smile: "We good? I kinda wanna leave the spooky hollow." 13:33 <tom> He will also help Barrowsmith down. 13:33 <hrolf> "The tripping up's not going to come from us saying nuffink, it's going to be from the fact that we're trying to run rings around supernatural fackin creatures of the night." 13:33 <banana> "The worst bit about all this is I can't even beg you fine people for a tip. Except Mr. Goreman, perhaps..." 13:33 <tom> "Is that where you keep em when they're not attacking my brain?" 13:33 <banana> "I gave it up when it became obvious you 'aven't got one." 13:34 <tom> "I have spent a lot of time thinking about whether it's okay for y-vampires to drink my blood, and the answer that I can give is that if you're dying it's probably okay." 13:34 <Quaker> “The ones we met were friendly, open to trading information in the future. But they were artsy types, not real frontline muscle. And most of the frontline muscle is very unfriendly to working with mysterious outsiders who offer pay in new experiences, as we could have predicted.” 13:34 <tom> "Otherwise, can I go? It's real cold down here." 13:35 <banana> Starling: "Let's all go. Not a great topic upon which to ruminate." 13:35 <Quaker> “They did recommend we contact someone. Zebek Trajan and his partner. Apparently a pair of explorer types, friendly to collaboration with new and exciting people.” 13:35 <banana> Everyone gathers themselves and their things. The cave is just a cave again, with huge dead and live small roots. 13:35 <Quaker> “Free Council, so we can expect them to be basically friendly and reasonable.” 13:36 <Quaker> “Might be interested in joining us for some Vampire tracking, or maybe the Star Child thing, or maybe some joint work in the future. Do I have permission to contact them and feel them out?” 13:37 <Quaker> “As far as I can tell, money isn’t a very big going concern for mages, so we’d be offering them something more esoteric that they’ll be interested in. If they demand payment at all. And of course, it would involve us in mage activities more heavily.” 13:37 <banana> People are quiet on the way up, ready to go their separate ways. The Hill will surely have meetings in their future; they run the Freehold now, and until Candlemas. But it's not a mood for togetherness, and Bob is left with an exhausted Mari. Perhaps not as exhausted as he is, since she didn't drink as much. 13:37 <tom> Bob puts his hands in his pockets and pulls the halves of his jacket around Mari like wings. 13:38 <banana> Haldane: "Sounds good to me." 13:38 <Quaker> “Which I don’t mind. As long as we don’t work for our Ottoman friend or his Pyramid.” 13:38 <Quaker> “Speaking of only working for one side of a civil war.” 13:38 <tom> "Let's go home, babe." 13:40 <Quaker> “Also, let’s make sure to never mention that fellow’s name in here. I have no idea how Sourjack’s wards work against their brand of scrying.” 13:40 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”I have no desire to be the handmaiden of the handmaiden of the architects of all the world’s suffering.” 13:40 <tom> Bob has his headphones down around his neck as he steps out of the workstation, wiping his hands on a rag. "My ears are burning." 13:42 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”Were you listening to the call?” 13:43 <tom> He pulls up a chair to the conference table while his coffee brews. "Yeah. Good to know I'm not the only one having to cover my ass constantly." 13:43 <tom> "I guess vampires have to care about optics even more than we do." 13:44 <Crion> Aster doesn't look up from his work at Bob's entry to the conversation. "As they should be." 13:44 <tom> "...Should I make a flamethrower?" 13:49 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”It might come in handy. It might not. Right now we’re continuing to investigate, trying to figure out what happened to the Gardeners. Then we’ll either hand them off to Vie or destroy them in self-defense if we tread too closely.” 13:49 <VoxPVoxD> She’s repeating what Bob already heard back to him. It’s a nervous thing. 13:50 <tom> Bob takes off his visor and folds it on the table, rubs the bags under his eyes. "You're not gonna die." 13:50 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”That’s what I’m afraid of, Robert.” 13:50 <tom> "That's not happening either." 13:52 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”I value your confidence. Staying frosty, are you?” 13:52 <VoxPVoxD> She used that one last night but Bob wasn’t there so it’s free real estate. 13:52 <Crion> Aster: "Fewer valiant promises to each other and more shoe-leather work, if you would. I've set up tentative 'zones' over an exported map of Manchester -- here, Haldane, see if you can get this up on the big screen -- of where we could best loiter and hope to be attacked." 13:52 <tom> "Yeah. We've got the best team in this fucking country, I bet, and you're made of fire." 13:52 <Crion> "This is our last resort." 13:52 <banana> Richard sets up the projector. "Who's wearing the nightgown?" 13:53 <VoxPVoxD> Willie coughs. Does she look a bit pale today? 13:53 <Crion> "Victim analysis says Willie or Rolf are the best targets. Of course, that's mainly due to them being the closest things we have on hand to locals." 13:53 <tom> "I volunteer to be bait." 13:54 <Crion> "You're going to insist on wearing body armor and concealing a shotgun. No." 13:54 <Quaker> Badawi: “I really don’t think we need to actually stand out there as bait.” 13:54 <tom> "No I'm not." 13:54 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”No one is getting tactically bitten.” 13:54 <tom> "I'll go in a fucking clownsuit if you make me." 13:54 <Crion> Aster: "As I said, it's a last resort." 13:54 <Crion> "Our job is to make it not necessary. But it's important to have the structure for it." 13:54 <Quaker> “Do we have anything of the Gardeners? Anything they once possessed or valued?” 13:54 <VoxPVoxD> “We are far more clever and resourceful than having to rely on a carrot under a box propped up by a stick.” 13:55 <VoxPVoxD> “We know where we can get some, Agostina. If you’d like to rob a museum.” 13:55 <Quaker> Badawi: “I would love to.” 13:56 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”The Museum of Hattery will have things that belonged to the Countess Salford.” 13:56 <Crion> Aster: "VASCU liked to believe they were more clever and resourceful than that, too. And generally they -- we -- were. But you know what? The carrot in the box propped up by a stick works." 13:56 <Quaker> “We know mages who owe us a favor. If we bring them some item with ties to the Gardeners, they can help us with their sympathetic magic.” 13:56 <tom> "Don't I know it," Bob answers Aster. 13:57 <Crion> Aster: "That's a good idea." 13:57 <Crion> "Let me know if you need me along to Talon a guard." 13:57 <VoxPVoxD> “That is a good idea.” 13:57 <Quaker> “I don’t suppose the Museum of Hattery will have very airtight security. But we can start surveilling it immediately.” 13:57 <tom> "I can have a drone over it in half an hour." 13:58 <Quaker> “See, that’s where the hot dog carts would come in handy. Park one right across from the Museum for a week?” 13:58 <tom> Bob gets up for his coffee. 14:00 <tom> "I could get into it. Although I'd like to do chicken sandwiches." 14:00 <tom> "It makes the most sense. Everyone can eat chicken." 14:00 <tom> "Don't wanna be a hater." 14:00 <Quaker> “Sure. The food itself can vary.” 14:00 <Crion> Aster: "There are a number of people who cannot eat chicken, Bob." 14:03 <tom> "I mean religious restrictions." 14:03 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”We can do chicken burgers and veggie burgers alongside hot dogs or whatever else.” 14:03 <VoxPVoxD> “Street food is street food. If it’s hot and cheap enough and people walk by, they’ll eat it.” 14:05 <Crion> Aster: "Dare I ask how a chicken burger is different from a chicken sandwich." 14:05 <Crion> "Do you not bread them." 14:05 <tom> Bob looks horrified. 14:05 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”A chicken burger is hot. A chicken sandwich is cold.” 14:05 <Crion> 14:06 <Crion> Aster: "Degenerate island nation." 14:06 <VoxPVoxD> “You could have a grilled chicken burger, but they are typically deep-fried, yes.” 14:08 <tom> "Do you think deep-frying a vampire hurts it worse than burning, or less?" 14:08 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”Less.” 14:09 <tom> Yeah, the caffeine has entered his bloodstream. 14:09 <VoxPVoxD> “It’s not heat, it’s fire. I assume it’s a metaphysical link to the sun, or vice-versa. But that’s only an assumption.” 14:12 <tom> Bob scratches his chin. "If we're about to go... if there's a chance we're going to face revenants. I want to run everyone through a CQC drill." 14:13 <tom> "I'll run it professional. It's for safety purposes." 14:13 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”CQC?” 14:13 <tom> "Close-Quarters Combat." 14:13 <VoxPVoxD> “Oh! You want to dance again.” 14:13 <Crion> Aster: "What's your certification?" 14:13 <VoxPVoxD> “He can waltz now.” 14:14 <Crion> "Are we learning Judo, Russian Systema, that nonsense the Israelis practice...?" 14:15 <tom> "Oh, no, I'm not talking about... I'm not a fucking MMA fighter, dude." 14:16 <tom> "Valkyrie has its own handbook for engaging ENE's in tight quarters." 14:16 <Crion> Exaggerated mock offense: "Oh. Well excuse me." 14:16 <VoxPVoxD> Willie giggles. 14:16 <tom> "For the record, I do know Krav Maga." 14:16 <tom> He's full of shit. 14:17 <VoxPVoxD> “Prove it.” 14:17 <Crion> Aster: "I'm sure he has the monthly receipts from the overpriced suburban gym he studied at around somewhere." 14:17 <tom> "There's only two people in the room, and both of them can kill me by thinking about it." 14:17 <tom> "There's also Haldane. Do you want me to do a stunner on Haldane?" 14:17 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”What! No I can’t!” 14:18 <tom> "Okay, yeah," He rolls his eyes. "You gotta... lose some blood and think about it." 14:18 <Crion> Aster: "Wait, a stunner? Isn't that a professional wrestling move?" 14:18 <Quaker> Badawi: “I can’t kill you with my mind.” 14:18 <VoxPVoxD> “A stunner is a very attractive woman.” 14:18 <tom> "I was being figurative." 14:18 <tom> "Shiithey Badawi." 14:18 <tom> "Snuck up on me." 14:19 <tom> "...I am not going to do martial arts." 14:19 <Quaker> She’s literally been doing yoga the whole time! 14:19 <VoxPVoxD> “Sign me up for whatever it is you are doing, then.” 14:19 <VoxPVoxD> “Speaking of self-defence... I might be binding a familiar soon.” 14:19 <tom> And he's been trying to die on this hill of pretending to know what Krav Maga is. 14:19 <VoxPVoxD> “I need to do some research, wait for the right moon phase.” 14:20 <tom> "Sure. It's just a slideshow and an obstacle course basically." 14:20 <tom> "Like for Keanu training for John Wick, but for vampires." 14:23 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”If I get it set up I’ll make sure to brief everyone in advance. Do let me know if you have immediate questions or issues.” 14:23 <tom> "Do you need, like, help?" 14:24 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”I never have before.” 14:24 <tom> "...Look, it's chill if you wanna solo the demon summoning, I get it. But you gotta at least take my gopro." 14:24 <VoxPVoxD> “But if you’d like to watch... it wouldn’t be the first time I had someone standing over my shoulder, either.” 14:25 <tom> "You make it sound weird. This is a perfectly wholesome desire to witness a demon summoning." 14:25 <tom> He's enjoying himself now, leaning back on the chair's two legs and folding his arms behind his head. 14:25 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”Good, because you would be disappointed if you went in expecting something sexy.” 14:25 <VoxPVoxD> “Unless half-sloughed alligator poets are your thing.” 14:30 <tom> Bob spends a few minutes trying to figure out if there's a less stupid way to say this: "Yeah that's why I went under the Tatterdam, because I was focusing on the spooky ghosts and not the blood-slaked witch." 14:31 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”Did you just call me a witch?” 14:32 <tom> "Witches are in these days." 14:32 <tom> "I figured you'd know, outta everyone." 14:32 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”A witch makes a conscious pact with a darker power. I have a hereditary condition.” 14:33 <tom> "Not always. Sometimes they just rob graves." 14:33 <tom> "Or are basically just goths?" 14:33 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”Cradle of Filth counts.” 14:35 <Crion> Aster: "You did, however, go to school to hone your magical powers, yes? In Milan." 14:35 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”Yes! In fact I think the star charts are right for me to call up the first demon I ever bound.” 14:35 <Crion> "This would seem to fit the Harry Potter definition of 'witchery.'" 14:35 <Crion> "And we are of course governed by ever-changing standards and best practices." 14:36 <VoxPVoxD> “Yeah, well, if JK Rowling works out a magic spell besides humiliating herself on Twitter, I’m sure I’ll hear about it.” 14:36 <tom> "The world will break and shatter at the sight of Goth Willie." 14:36 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: ”You have no idea.”